Tuition grant program needed to build work force, senators say
Offering free college tuition to good North Dakota high school students will encourage them to stay in the state and build its work force, two state senators say.
“The competition in the marketplace is intense. We can elect to compete, or we can sit back, and let other states pass us by, while we watch,” said Sen. Larry Robinson, D-Valley City. “I believe it is time for action.”
A procession of legislators, university system administrators and local economic development officials lined up at a Senate Education Committee hearing Tuesday to praise legislation sponsored by Sen. Tony Grindberg, R-Fargo, to offer substantial college tuition aid to North Dakota high school graduates.
The subsidies, which Grindberg calls “promise grants,” would begin in 2012. They would benefit students who had attended school in North Dakota since kindergarten, and who had a composite score of at least 23 on the national ACT test, which is taken by prospective college students. Among North Dakota test takers, the composite average ACT score was 21.4 last year.
At first, the grants would pay 65 percent of a qualifying student’s tuition bill, with the benefit gradually rising to 100 percent.
Grindberg said other states are offering tuition benefits to top students in hopes of coaxing them to stay there after they graduate. He said North Dakota college graduates would find suitable job opportunities.
As proposed, the benefit is open to students who began school in kindergarten in North Dakota. Grindberg said it would encourage young families to move to the state, and encourage those who are already living in the state to remain.
Grindberg said he believes the bill “will change the landscape of North Dakota.”
